{"id":8084,"date":"2023-08-20T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T19:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=8084"},"modified":"2023-08-20T15:26:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T19:26:00","slug":"the-hope-of-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=8084","title":{"rendered":"THE HOPE OF HEAVEN"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE HOPE OF HEAVEN<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

John 14: 1-7<\/b><\/h2>\n

Revelation 21: 1-27<\/strong><\/h2>\n

by Rev. Richard Jones<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n

THE PROMISE<\/u>
\n<\/u>John 14:1-7 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 \u201cLet not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2\u00a0 In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3\u00a0 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4\u00a0 And you know the way to where I am going.\u201d
\n5\u00a0 Thomas said to him, \u201cLord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?\u201d
\n6\u00a0 Jesus said to him, \u201cI am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
\n7\u00a0 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0 But, as it is written, \u201cWhat no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him\u201d\u2014<\/p>\n

Hebrews 12:22-23 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
\n23\u00a0 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,<\/p>\n

Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
\n21\u00a0 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
\n7\u00a0 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
\n8\u00a0 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE NEW
\n<\/u>Revelation 21:1-5 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2\u00a0 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3\u00a0 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u201cBehold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4\u00a0 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.\u201d 5\u00a0 And he who was seated on the throne said, \u201cBehold, I am making all things new.\u201d Also he said, \u201cWrite this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psalm 102:25-26 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
\n26\u00a0 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,<\/p>\n

Isaiah 65:17 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0 \u201cFor behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.<\/p>\n

2 Peter 3:10 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.<\/p>\n

Luke 21:33 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n33\u00a0 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE CITY<\/u>
\n<\/u>Revelation 21:9-14 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, \u201cCome, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.\u201d
\n10\u00a0 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11\u00a0 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12\u00a0 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed\u2014 13\u00a0 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14\u00a0 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE COLORS<\/u>
\n<\/u>Revelation 21:15-21 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16\u00a0 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17\u00a0 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel\u2019s measurement. 18\u00a0 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19\u00a0 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20\u00a0 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21\u00a0 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE CHARACTER<\/u>
\n<\/u>Revelation 21:22-27 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
\n23\u00a0 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24\u00a0 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25\u00a0 and its gates will never be shut by day\u2014and there will be no night there.
\n26\u00a0 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27\u00a0 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb\u2019s book of life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE REQUIREMENT<\/u>
\n<\/u>John 14:5-6 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n<\/u>5\u00a0 Thomas said to him, \u201cLord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?\u201d
\n6\u00a0 Jesus said to him, \u201cI am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 11:9-10 (ESV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
\n10\u00a0 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE HOPE OF HEAVEN John 14: 1-7 Revelation 21: 1-27 by Rev. Richard Jones     THE PROMISE John 14:1-7 (ESV) 1\u00a0 \u201cLet not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2\u00a0 In my Father\u2019s house … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8084"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8086,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8084\/revisions\/8086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}